A Glitch in the 21st century
by Lizzaay Wilder
Summary: Two girls are fans of Assassins Creed, and are constantly having silly little arguments when a strange series of events occur, and... well... they're thrown back in time to the 15th century! Real people, name have been changed, not true. xD
1. Chapter 1

**1**

"How can you not think he was real? Of course he was!" Yelled Anna, cheeks flaming a deep red as she stared down her best friend, Cassy, determined she was 'right' and her friend was 'wrong'.

Cassy frowned, sighed and pushed back her auburn hair, chewing her cheeks as she did so. There was never a time she could actually remember where Anna believed anything she said. Of course, she was stubborn at that, always believing that she's the wisest of the entire group.

Cassy couldn't deny that.

But Anna did have a certain obsession of being right. It got a bit tiresome, how she could never admit being anything less than clever. However, it was Anna, and, because she was innocent, smart and clever and everything you'd want to be, you couldn't be mad at her. She just had that flare about her, that sense of innocence and that 'it wasn't me' look she gave everyone.

"Anna, he's fictional. The creators came up with his name, his entire background story and life. What, _in god's name,_ makes you think he's real?"

Fuming, Anna raised her index finger, widened her eyes and tightened her lips. "He. Is. Real. I'll prove it to you. I just know I can."

Rolling her eyes, Cassy shrugged and turned to Luna, who was giggling with Jesse and Claudia. Bob looked pissed off, but had a slight smirk and his shoulders were shaking a bit from possible silent laughter.

"She just can't admit she's wrong and I'm right." Cassy laughed, watching as Anna ruffled her blonde hair and sat in a hump on the banking.

Jesse giggled, sat next to Anna and started to ramble about TV shows and famous actors with Claudia, who folded her knees up and rested her chin on top of them, smiling and nodding along. Bob sat down and talked about the prime minister, and Anna, Luna and Cassy carried on their obsessive discussions.

It was just another normal day… Another normal day where arguments,

Fan-girling, laughing and discussing politics was a regular feature. Cassy figured they could be amazing at ruling the world. That would be pretty good. If the world consisted of crazy teenage girls and people obsessed with their blogs. No _facebook _with sluts who post half-naked pictures of them, lips pouted and posting rubbish like 'about to get in the bath' and ten people like it.

It's just sad… really… really sad.

Anyway, Bob would be the leader dealing with politics… or whatever… Luna would be in charge of the voting and catchy phrases or whatever it is you do in elections. Claudia would do the whole recommending thing, like:

'Bob will make no cuts because he cares'. A cheesy slogan like that… you get the idea. Jesse would do all the technology side of things and Anna would do the art work… and… Cassy, well… she would do the… erm…. The other stuff, you know? Whatever needed doing basically?

Of course, that would never happen. Just the thought of everyone's different affinities for things is brilliant. Everyone's unique.

They all went to a strict secondary school in a small town called 'Effersly'; it was one of the places in the UK that no one really knew about. It was not of importance. Not to British society anyway… it used to be, but… well… things change right? People change, crap happens and so forth and life and blah etcetera… the whole deal. They were all in their second to last year, nearly at the end of it as well. Just one more exam to go! It was definitely doing to be the hardest, French…

The whole thing was to talk about your holidays and where you were going and… stuff.

"Oooh, yeah that was brill!" Luna cried, clapping her hands as she talked to Anna about a memory or something. Something Cassy didn't really know much about, she just listened, creating her own version of the memory they were discussing. Listening to the details… painting the picture… Cassy was good at that, creating stuff and imagining and drawing. It was about the only thing she was good at. She could come up with a story in a few minutes and start writing, and everyone else were just good at everything, Science… Maths… _Everything._

They were so damn lucky having super-brains like they did. Cassy wished she could be all _Charles Xavier _in exams just to know what Luna and Anna were thinking, suck the cleverness out of their brains. Actually get a good grade.

Ha.

"So, Cassy. Have you decided to agree that I am right and you are wrong?" Anna suggested, a smug grin on her face as Cassy hissed at her, playfully narrowing her eyes and then smiling.

"Nope."

"Ah _damn_ it. You… you… I'm _right_!"

"But you're wrong."

"That is where you are mistaken, my friend. I am right and I always will be."

Cassy rolled her eyes and looked over at Luna who sighed and piped in-

"There's no point Cassy. Anna and I have argued this a thousand times, I've won most of them, but there's really no point."

Cassy tutted and muttered 'shoot. So close… So _close_…"

"No. You really weren't Cassy." Anna said, grinning and chuckling as Cassy gave her a death stare.

"I'll prove I'm right Anna. I really will." Cassy laughed, and so they argued the rest of the day.

The last few periods droned on, the science teachers babbling about electrons being fundamental particles and how they couldn't break down any further and everyone sharing their opinions that that theory might not actually be true and blah blah blah. Cassy understood it; she just couldn't be bothered to care for it at the moment. Not when so much was on her mind (Nothing important. Mostly just fan fiction's of TV shows and _tumblr_ this and _tumblr _that). It wasn't until the end of the day outside the class room that something happened. Something unusual.

Cassy caught a glitch in her peripheral vision, spun around to face it – and saw nothing. She wasn't quite sure what it was; it was just like a white light zapping down from the ceiling to the floor. It was just a split second thing, she wasn't even sure that it was actually there and that it had even happened. Maybe all the heat had gotten to her head. That must have been it.

"Something wrong, Cas?" Anna asked, looking concerned as Cassy blinked and everything happened in slow motion. Her question came out more like 'Sooommeeettthhinngggg wrooonnnggggg Caaassss?"

It didn't sound human. Something was wrong… very wrong.

"You sure you're OK?" Anna asked as she helped Cassy down the stairs and out into the school car park.

"Yes, it's fine," Cassy whinced, forcing a smile and nodding at the other's, trying to suggest they should just leave and go home.

They didn't.

"We're not leaving! You really don't seem OK. You look really pale Cassy. Do you feel faint?" Jesse asked, reaching for her bottle of juice, taking the top off and handing it out to her. Cassy grimaced at the drink and collapsed to the floor, feeling sick and as though the world was spinning.

"Bob, go get a teacher! Be quick!" Claudia said, shoving Bob in the direction of a teacher's room.

Several things started happening, Cassy's breath shortened, and she began to gasp, she started to jerk uncontrollably and she couldn't help but firmly grip Anna's shirt like it was the only thing keeping her going.

"Cas, it's fine." Anna said, letting Cassy yank at her blouse as sweat dripped from her forehead.

It felt like hours before Bob came back with a teacher. There was a bit of rushed communication going on between Cassy's friends and the teacher. Gradually, they helped Cassy to her feet and took her over to a classroom to lie on a table. The world spun for a while, but after a while it stopped spinning, and Cassy slowly sat up and looked over at her friends.

They all looked terrified.

Cassy felt awful. Making them feel that way. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry that even happened."

"Why are you apologising? You did nothing wrong. You can't help that that happened." Luna reassured.

"Yes but…"

"But what?" Claudia interrupted. "Don't be silly, you could have done nothing."

"Yeah Cas, you should call your mum though. Get her to pick you up. Maybe, not come to school tomorrow?" Bob suggested, showing genuine concern on his pale face.

Cassy contemplated this, then nodded. "I suppose. I don't know what that was. I'm sorry."

"You're just like Luna. Saying sorry all the time." Claudia laughed.

They all laughed.

Cassy's dreams weren't good that night – A hooded figure slashing throats of Florentine guards, running along rooftops and traversing old looking buildings and occasionally, she caught the face of the man. She figured it was a man anyway. His masculine figure and the deadly vibe radiating from him like a venomous snake… slick and at ease, killing appeared to come naturally. He was evolved to kill.

Cassy had respect for the man; she couldn't deny that. He was so smooth… so at ease… perfect… No fear.

And then she woke up.

It had been unusual. More unusual than the dreams she normally experiences, especially when she doesn't exactly understand why they happen. Yes she has obsessive moments. But talking about _Ezio _from _Assassins Creed _being real wouldn't have caused all the strange events that happened today. Cassy knew that the dream would most likely have been him. What was happening to her?

Cassy picked up her phone and texted Anna:

_I just had a dream about Ezio! But he's not real, keep that in mind Anna ;D He never was. Ooh, you up to much today? Do you want to go to the park? X_

A few moments later…

_Ah! He is real! I am right and you are wrong! Muahaha! And yeah sure, I'd love to go to park. Two o'clock? X_

_Paha! And yes, that's good. See you there ;) x_

The sun was bright in the sky and the grass was a beautiful shade of bright green, the blades of grass prickling Cassy's skin like weak blades as she lay down, talking with Anna under a tall shady tree.

"The dream was just… epic. You know?"

"Yes, I do. I have Ezio dreams all the time."

"Weird, aren't we?"

"Yes."

Cassy and Anna both laughed, and smiled as they talked continuously about _Assassins Creed _and _The Tournament_ and _Ian Somerhalder_… the usual stuff.

"Ezio was still real though. You can't sway me from that." Anna said matter-of-factly.

"I think we'll have to agree to disagree. You know, Altair might have been real though. There's more of a chance of him being real than Mr. Auditorie you know?" Cassy stated, waiting for a clever comeback from Anna.

She didn't get one.

Frowning, Cassy looked over at Anna. Anna was staring up at something in the sky, deep in concentration and focused on one thing only. Cassy looked up, she saw it too. A glitch.

"I… I saw that… I saw that at school yesterday." Cassy gasped, shocked to see it again, jaw dropping.

"It's weird." Anna said. "It's like a hole. A hole in the air."

"Yeah. Kind of."

The glitch started to mutate, cracks formed around it and suddenly, it became so wide that, when she looked around, Cassy was shocked no one else in the park had noticed it. She looked at the hole again.

It was _right in front of her face._

"Oh my god," She gasped, her voice a mere screech.

"Don't move," Anna said.

Cassy blinked. Everything was black.

She woke up in a strange place (Anna was unconscious beside her); they were in some… some courtyard somewhere. There was a rich smell of grass and hay, rusty metal and the sound of a blacksmith working with his metal. Cassy bolted up right and looked over to the noise.

A hooded figure was sat with a sword, sharpening the edges and sparks were flying everywhere. He looked fearful… Like he was some one you shouldn't mess with.

"Anna," Cassy hissed, shaking her friend, still staring at the hooded figure.

Anna twitched, mumbled and opened her eyes. It took her a while to realise where she was when she suddenly sat up incredibly fast, mouth shaped into a small 'o'.

She looked over to where Cassy was looking and gasped quite loudly. The hooded man stopped, stood up at turned to face us.

"Ciao signore, sei sveglio!" He said, approaching us steadily. "Cosa diavolo ti sei messa?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Cassy managed to say, terrified that this man was going to kill them.

His eyes widened. "Ah! Me dispiace! You're English! Well! Let me just say, if I hadn't saved you from the middle of the road you'd have been trampled on by that horse and carriage! Did you have a bit of drinking?"

Anna poked Cassy, stared at the man and then Cassy and said, "Cassy! I've just realised! That's frickin' Ezio Auditorie!"

"_What_?" Cassy and Ezio both said in reply, both for entirely different reasons. Cassy's reason was, 'what the…? ANNA WAS… _RIGHT_?" And Ezio's reason was "How on earth do they know my name?"

Cassy and Anna were going to have some explaining to do, and so was Ezio.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

"Who sent you? How do you know my name?"

The questions kept coming, Ezio kept pacing, Cassy and Anna kept shaking, and the whole day seemed to drone on for what felt like an eternity. It got to the point where Ezio was so fed up of asking questions and not getting satisfactory answers, that he slumped to his wooden chair, rested his elbow on the table and stared at the two frightened teenage girls sat in a corner of the bureau he'd escorted them to, occasionally sharing stunned glances and, scuttling away whenever Ezio came closer.

Cassy could tell he was getting annoyed, and his temper was wearing thin. He poured himself a glass of… beer or something, and swigged it down with perfect ease.

"You haven't told me your names, at least tell me that," Ezio huffed, jaw clenched as he sat patiently awaiting a reply.

Cassy licked her lips, looked to Anna, who nodded, and said; 'I'm Cassy, and this is Anna."

Satisfied, Ezio smiled and slouched further into what looked like an uncomfortable position, but probably wasn't because of all the heavy gear he was wearing. His amour was silver-plated and had intricate patterns carved into it; he had a white hooded all-in-one cloak thing, and wore a beautiful silver belt with the Assassin logo in the middle.

Ezio looked just how he did in the games, but real… and older… his skin was real, his face was real, his whole body… everything was perfect. The creators hadn't quite gotten his face right, but here, in real life, he was even better and much more handsome. With sharpened cheekbones, a pointed nose and soft lips, his ratty brown fringe covering the tops of his brown eyes and his masculine jaw.

Most of the time, Cassy didn't actually listen to what Ezio was saying, she just stared, intrigued by his awesome figure and beautiful eyes. It was like seeing an eagle for the first time, the master of all, but a million times better. A skilled hunter.

"I think…" Ezio rose to his feet, looked over at a bunch of swords and amour and then looked over at Cassy and Anna. "I think maybe you should explain how you got here, then we can go from there."

Cassy spoke first, "I don't know how we got here," she said. "One minute we were in Effersly, the next we were here."

Ezio frowned, breathed in and cleared his throat. "Explain."

"Well," It was Anna talking this time, "We were lying down on some grass in a park, and… then… well, we woke up here. Italy. Miles from home."

Ezio laughed. "What makes you think we're in Italy? We're in Masyaf."

Cassy's eyes widened, she looked over at Anna and saw the confusion in her face, but all Cassy could think about was that they were in _Masyaf_. Where Altair had been… It was real!

"Ha… Why are we in Masyaf? Is it…? It's…?"

"It's where I'm looking for answers."

Cassy smiled. "Oh god, this might sound weird. But I think we're past all the crap, now… listen. Anna and I are from the 21st century, AKA 2011. Technology's changed. Things are better. I probably shouldn't be telling you this because of all the space-time stuff and whatever. But yeah, we're from 2011, hence the weird looking clothes and, I'm not sure if you've noticed, the earphone's dangling from my jacket pocket."

"Excuse me?"

Anna tapped Cassy and whispered, "Are you sure you should be telling him? It might have… you know… consequences? Things could happen?"

"It's fine," Cassy reassured Anna, staring into Ezio's eyes. "You can think I'm crazy, but the reason we don't know why we got here is because we aren't supposed to be. We're from the future. Some weird stuff is going down over there; glitches are appearing in the sky, holes… you know? Just holes in the air, that's how we got here. One basically swallowed us up whilst we were in the park."

"Do you want me to call for a doctor? Maybe you hit your head when you fell last night?" Ezio suggested, making his way towards the door, which lead out into the street.

Cassy laughed. "No, no… It's fine. We didn't, and we don't need a doctor. Something's happening in the future, but we were sent back here for a reason. I know that much."

Anna started to look uncomfortable, and she kept pulling on Cassy's arm, practically begging for her to shut up. Ezio looked confused – as anyone would be. "I really think you should shut up now Cas. Are you trying to get us locked up?"

Ezio analyzed the two girls for a moment, then sat back down in his wooden chair and sat in deep thought for what seemed like minutes before he actually said anything. Cassy started to feel slightly anxious and noticed that Anna looked like she was slightly pissed off with her. Cassy didn't expect Ezio to understand, she just hoped it was enough for him to help them.

"I believe you."

"What?"

"I believe you."

"Why?"

"Because, from what I've experienced, anything can happen. Especially since the Apple of Eden is constantly being messed about with. I don't have it at the moment, a templar does. I'm assuming one of them messed about with it, it affected the future, created a hole or whatever… and well… here you are."

Cassy and Anna exchanged baffled looks.

"I think they wanted you for a reason. You're valuable. They want you on their side for some reason. Well, you know what? They're not having you. Grab those swords, get the amour and let's get training."

It took a moment for Cassy to actually realise what he said. Maybe not telling him would've been a good idea… There was no way she wanted to fight as an assassin! She'd rather be at home right now; sat by her computer on _tumblr _and drinking countless cups of tea. If anything, she didn't think the templar's would have purposefully brought them here. What qualities did they have? Nothing, all they did was play games, be normal, compute, eat, read, hang out and do stuff normal teenagers did. There was absolutely no reason they'd ever want to bring two teenagers back to this century.

She wanted to be at home. It was obvious Anna had the same thing going through her mind. They both tried to explain to Ezio that that couldn't be true, but he wasn't having it, and he dragged them out into a battling ring, tossed them two swords and threw two hooded cloaks on the floor beside them. He vanished inside for a few moments, and in that time, Anna and Cassy exchanged '_oh my god'_ looks. Ezio returned with some leather amour and threw it by their feet.

"Gear up," he commanded.

Cassy's cloak was a faded red and with a belt that had a basic Assassin symbol in the centre. The amour felt heavy, and she raised the hood, picked up her sword, and twirled it around in her fingers. Anna's Assassin cloak was white with a red ribbon wrapped around her waist that was attached to her belt. Cassy didn't have a ribbon, but she had boots where as Anna did not. She was still in her trainers.

"I won't try," Cassy said, nervously smiling at Anna, who looked like she wanted to break down and cry. Cassy felt that way too, but she had to stay strong. Do whatever was needed just to get back home.

"Neither will I,"

Ezio clapped his hands together and gestured for them to enter the ring, they did, and they just stood their, trying their hardest not to drop the heavy swords.

"There's no need to worry, these swords are practice swords and are quite blunt at the tips, so you won't damage each other. You might get a few bruises but that's it." He didn't enter the ring, but just rested his arms on the bit of fence separating them from each other. "We need to start with the basics. You need to learn how to move your feet around."

The footwork he explained wasn't too complicated, in fact, it just reminded her of fencing, and she never really found it that hard. Anna seemed to be getting the hang of it as well. Next came the basic jabs and his 'assassin' rules and stuff like where it's best to aim and how you should maneuver around your opponent. It wasn't too bad, but Cassy did feel quite hot and parched with all the heavy clothing and equipment she had been loaded with for most of the day.

Towards the end of the training, Ezio let them take off their amour, but said they had to keep the cloaks on to get a feel for what it'd be like to wear them everyday. He also let them go and get a drink from a water fountain, it wasn't exactly brilliant and they had to cup their hands and drink from it. He insisted it was good and clean. But… then again… water was water, and when you were thirsty, you'd drink anything.

"It's not… it's not that bad, right?" Cassy said, glancing at Anna and shrugging.

"No, it's brilliant," Anna deadpanned, rolling her eyes and walking towards the small house Ezio had been squatting in at the bottom of Masyaf. It was really small, and reminded Cassy of the type of houses you see in Iraq on _BBC News_ that poor people lived in. She didn't want to think about how long she'd be staying there, but accepted it. The inside was small, just two rooms and a small extension at the back of the house that had a door opening into a square garden. No flowers were there… it was just grass. The house also didn't smell of much either, and there wasn't much to see, just a few blankets on the floor with some pillows.

"This is where we're sleeping?" Cassy asked, pointing at the blankets on the floor.

"Yes," Ezio said. "It's not that bad."

"Just so you know, we're not staying for too long." Cassy stated. "We're going as soon as we find a way home."

"And that might not be for a while. Whilst we wait, you shall be training. You've got a lot to do."

"Great," Anna said, rolling her eyes and sitting down on a blanket and pulling down her white hood. She took out her mobile phone from a pouch and turned it on.

"I've got some battery left, but no reception… obviously. At least I have games. I wonder if my camera will work."

She held down a button and held it up to Cassy. "It works. Ezio, get over here, stand with Cas."

Ezio frowned and cautiously made his way over. He stood next to Cassy and looked down at the small phone Anna held out towards them.

"Cheese!" Anna said, smiling. The camera flashed, Ezio winced and… and the end result was of Cassy smiling, looking normal (ish) and then there was Ezio. His face has a mixture of shock, confusion and '_what the hell?_', his smile wasn't really a smile, his expression wasn't really much other than a frown, mouth shaped into an 'o' and one eye was squinting and the other half open, head thrown back in shock.

"If anything, we're going to have to teach you how to take a proper photo." Anna laughed. "And maybe turn the flash off."

"Strange people. You really are," Ezio mumbled, turning around and leaving the room, mumbling to himself.

"He reminds me of _Myrnin _from _Morganville_." Cassy laughed, and Anna nodded, bursting into laughter. "This isn't so bad really… I just hope it's like Narnia or something and when we get back time will have only gone by in a second or something."

Anna nodded. "I hope so too. But, I think we just have to endure this for as long as we have to."

"And be ready."

"Yes. Be ready."

"For anything."

"Anything. Absolutely."


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

The sun broke through the small square shaped hole in the wall, which looked as though it had been a poor attempt by the residents previously to create a window. Cassy squinted in the morning light, eyes adjusting. For a moment, she thought she was back home and about to go downstairs for her breakfast, but when she glanced around through blurred eyes, the dream shattered and she was here. Anna was still sleeping, and quite peacefully as well… considering everything wasn't exactly lollipops and candy canes. Cassy slowly rose to her feet and stretched. Feeling slightly dizzy, she made her way out into the back garden, where Ezio was sat fiddling with his blade. He looked up.

"_Signora, buongiorno_," he said, a small smile appearing momentarily, and then vanishing as he flexed his wrist and watched as the hidden blade threw itself in and out of the mechanism on his arm. "Il tempo è bello."

Cassy stood there and, from the French she understood, she could tell that what he said in Italian was something along the lines of 'the weather is nice.' She wasn't exactly sure.

"Yes." She said, smiling as he looked up. She sat opposite him and pulled her hood up over her head. "It is."

"You understood?" Ezio questioned, frowning as he watched Cassy fumble with the belt around her waist.

"Sort of. I guess. Well… in French, it's '_le temps est beau'_, which means the weather is beautiful. What you said was pretty similar. It kind of means the same thing."

Ezio nodded. He gestured inside the small house with his head and asked, "Is Anna still sleeping? I would think she should have about… ten minutes more of her sleep."

"W-why?" Cassy stammered, but she felt as though she knew the answer already.

"We're going to Jerusalem, we need to gather the horses from the stable outside Masyaf and begin our journey over there. It may take us… an hour to maybe two hours if we go slowly. There are guards stationed all around the route, this means we must go steady with our horses." Ezio cautioned, rising to his feet and making his way inside.

That was not the answer she expected, but Cassy followed anyway, wary not to over step her boundaries on what she could do and what she should do. "Does that mean we need weapons?"

"Weapons?" Ezio repeated, and then looked over at the bundle of swords and knives and amour in the corner of the room. "Perhaps I will allow you to take a simple sword, we shall think about allowing you to use more advanced weaponry at a later time. You are a simply a servitore… a servant."

Cassy didn't like that position, but in time, she hoped that would change. She made her way over to Anna, shook her and chuckled as her friend moaned and tossed around, mumbling that she didn't want to get up for school. Anna opened her eyes, and Cassy laughed as she shot up, glancing around and momentarily confused, as she didn't quite remember where she was. Then her face relaxed, and then she huffed and rested her head on her knees.

"Still here?" Anna moaned.

"Yes."

"Ugh."

Cassy giggled and turned to face Ezio. "So, this whole servitore thing, mind explaining the ranks or something?"

Ezio thought for a moment and smiled. "Yesterday you were a _recluta, _today you are a _servitore_, and… depending on how today goes, you may become an _assistente_. I will discuss later levels with you as you go along the process."

"And the weapons and amour we get aren't particularly good are they?" Cassy grunted, the side of her top lip rising in disappointment.

"Not particularly, but they will get better. For now, you will be using leather greaves; pauldrons and you will have a dagger and a Syrian sword for your comfort. I will not equip you with a hidden blade since we are not quite that far into your training. But today is a must experience. There are some things I need to do."

Cassy sighed and made a small nod with her head, and watched as Anna stretched and pulled her hood over her head.

"Won't we look weird with this stuff?" Anna asked, looking down at her white robes and red belt. "I mean, seriously though, look! How obvious can you get? The Assassin symbol is practically calling to be noticed, are you suicidal?"

"Aren't all Assassins?" Ezio shrilled, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not." Anna whined.

"You are not an Assassin yet."

"Well why am I wearing it?"

"Because you're with me."

"Suicidal."

"Maybe I am, you'll just have to get used to it."

Anna hissed and rolled her eyes. "He's just like Myrnin."

Cassy had a brown, sturdy horse whose legs were strong and powerful; it's main was a beautiful blonde… tangled, but smooth; it's eyes were a deep almond colour and it smelt like… like… well… what all horses smell like. Other than that though, it was a beautiful horse, and Cassy couldn't have asked for a better one. Anna's was of similar structure, but a bigger build and had black fur and a trimmed black main. Ezio's was a white horse, the most vibrant of the three… It was also the fittest horse and the smoothest ride.

In her peripheral vision, Cassy caught Anna take a picture of her horse and a picture of the path they were taking. The trek was just how Ezio said it would be, long. As well as feeling fed up of the boredom, there was also the blazing heat to cope with beating down on them, melting like ice cubes. There were indeed a lot of guards out and about, Ezio warned Cassy and Anna to take it steady and just walk. As soon as they were out of guard's sight, they'd trot and maybe even canter if there were masses of crop fields to get through.

There were loads of town's people just simply going about their daily jobs, harvesting fields and cleaning stables. Some were cleaning the streets and some even said hello. However, there were some, who didn't acknowledge Cassy and the others, they would just give them a look as if they were dirt. These people obviously weren't vigilantes. Cassy found that that hurt slightly, it made her throat tighten and her heart stammer. Anyone could attack them, or… 'Psych out' as Bob would say…

Thinking about that made Cassy feel slightly dazed, Ezio and Anna turned a corner, but Cassy just stopped… she knew she shouldn't, and her eyes stared off into the distance and she remembered everything… _everything_.

"I can't do it," Cassy gasped, eyes widening as she felt her heart race in her chest. "I can't kill. I… I can't."

Just remembering everything, remembering what it was like to see someone… when they're… she didn't think she could do it, in fact, she _knew _she couldn't. She didn't even notice Ezio had come back to her and was asking her what was wrong. Not until he patted her thigh.

Cassy looked up. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her forehead was sweaty and her hands were shaking. "I can't do it," she whispered.

"Do what?" Ezio sympathised.

"I can't do this… everything. It's too much at once." Cassy whimpered, rising her sweaty hand to wipe her tears and remove the sweat.

"Yes you can. Listen," Ezio began, "My friend once said '_I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do._' This is your time to show that you can _do_ it. You don't need to know, you need to do. Put past events aside and just think about doing. Whatever is bothering you, it's not important."

Cassy looked up, eyes still watery, and tried a small smile. "It's just… my… I've seen something I shouldn't see. Not at my age. It wasn't something anyone would want to witness."  
>Ezio cocked his head to the side, looked over to a viewpoint, which a large eagle was circling, and then back at Cassy. "Eagles see everything."<p>

"Yes?" Cassy slurred, not seeing where this was going.

"So have I. I have a feeling I know exactly what you are talking about. I lost most of my family and felt like garbage for most of my pathetic teenage years, do _not_ let your fear get the better of you. I let my hate get the better of me, and that caused me to become stupid and irrational, my choices were predictable. Stay strong."

And with that, Ezio patted Cassy's thigh again, and turned away with his noble white stead and trotted away from the two futuristic girls.

"I think the whole eagle thing was a metaphor. He was saying he is the eagle, the eagle is him, whatever you want." Anna hissed. "He's so self absorbed."

Cassy laughed, Anna laughed, and they both followed Ezio, feeling the weight of the burning heat and the long distance to Jerusalem.

As they eventually came to the top of a sand road, Cassy gasped, pulled her horse to a stop and stared in awe at the city of Jerusalem just ahead. It was beautiful, viewpoints here and there and tall mosques overpowering most of the city. The basic colour code was sandy yellow, oranges, peaches, pale pinks and pale yellows. It was… it was picturesque. The road traveled down in a big 'S' shaped swirl down to the city, and there were market stalls, stables and citizens wandering about. Cassy could hear blacksmith's working from somewhere; she could hear horses blowing raspberries and the musical sound of people talking. It was like home, but less industrial and less modern. She patted Anna, but noticed she was already taking a picture. Ezio rolled his eyes, and then gestured for the two girls to follow him.

"This is amazing," Anna squeaked, pocketing her phone and following Ezio. Cassy nodded in agreement and followed as well.

It wasn't too busy at the bottom, but it was slightly annoying how people didn't seem to hear hooves coming there way, and just stood there blocking the path like stupid idiots. Cassy wouldn't have minded if it happened once or twice, but it _kept _happening. Even when they had been accepted into the city, people just kept walking in front of the horses and being incredibly rude and unaware.

"I'm pissed off," Cassy growled, eyeing all the citizens who varied from rich to poor. The poor ones tried to pull them off their horses to insist they give them some money, and some just stood in front of the horses and refused to budge. Eventually, Ezio showed his frustration and threatened to "run them down and feed them to the vultures if they did not remove their scrawny little arse from our path."

Cassy couldn't help but smirk, and neither could Anna. Anna went a bit soft occasionally and threw them a coin or two, not realising she was throwing two pence's and five pence's. She had to hop of her horse just to get them back, apologising.

"You do make me laugh sometimes Anna." Cassy snorted, rolling her eyes and taking in all the amazing architecture and art scattered around the city.

"Ah, we are here." Ezio announced, jumping off his horse and walking towards a tall building with some pillars supporting the roof above the door.

Ezio knocked and waited.

"Should we get off our horses?" Cassy suggested, preparing to swing her leg over if she needed to.

"One of you can."

Cassy and Anna exchanged looks.

"Me or you?" Anna asked, biting her lip.

"I don't mind."

"You then."

Cassy laughed, rolled her eyes and swung off her horse, hand ready to pull out her dagger if anything happened.

The door opened, and tall woman stood there with a hijab covering her entire face and hair. Her robes were blue and covered all of her body. She observed the three unfamiliar faces in front of her, and ran back inside the house.

"Don't worry, it will only be a few moments." Ezio reassured, standing there patiently.

A few moments later, a man came to the doorway; he wore a maroon beret tilted to the side and wore black and white stripy robes and a red cape. He squinted his eyes for a few moments, and then jumped in glee.

"Ezio Auditorie!" He yelled, spreading his arms wide in amazement. "_Sono così felice di vederti!"_

"_Sì, amico._" Ezio said, nodding in what seemed like agreement. They hugged each other for a few moments, and then Ezio pulled back, laughing with his friend.

"Ladies, this is _Leonardo Da Vinci_, an old friend," Ezio guffawed, turning to face Cassy and Anna and then turned back to Leonardo. "This is Cassy and Anna."

"Ah! You are English!" Leonardo said, approaching Cassy and offering his hand to her. "And very young!"

Cassy felt her cheeks blush, and shook as Leonardo gripped her hand and rattled her like a child's toy.

"And you! Come down from your horse, you look very pretty _bambino_,"

Anna jumped down from her horse, winced as Leonardo hugged her and moved back her head from his incoming face. "Hi,"

"Interesting," Leonardo speculated. "You're dialect is not one of any I have heard before. Tell me, where are you from?"

Cassy and Anna looked over to Ezio, who nodded.

"We're from 2011. And we're from Effersly in England."

Leonardo's eyes widened, he cocked his head, turned around and paced back to his house in excitement and raised his finger. "We shall discuss this inside."

"This ought to be fun," Anna deadpanned.

"Yep."

"So much fun."

"We'll be drinking cups of tea and eating biscuits, maybe watch _Top Gear_," Cassy said sarcastically, breathing in a bracing herself for the inevitable swarm of questions they were going to get from Leo.

"Well… we'd better go inside." Cassy suggested, following Ezio into the strange house.

"Yes. We'd better."


End file.
